The Falkirk FC Thread

[Guest Caractacus Potts]

34 minutes ago, Shodwall cat said:

Mcglynn is no miracle worker at the end of the day. With 60 odd percent of his budget already taken up before he arrived on the scene and most of that with pure dross. You won't find many other managers at this level having to put up with crap on 3 year deals . I'm sure if nesbitt, Mackay, mcguffie, Morrison, McCann, Ross, hetherington, Wilson, sneddon and Malcolm had been out of contract they would all have been shown the door in the summer.  Now a few have managed to probably change his mind but the majority are taking up wages for absolutely nothing. Mcpake will have a bigger budget to work with for a start and Dunfermline are only coming off one shite season not 3 in a row. We were never going to go from utter dross to runaway leaders in one window in these circumstances. 

That’s if you immediately write off all 60% as players McGlynn wouldn’t have. Pretty sure Morrison would be welcomed in to any team in this league. Hetherington is another I’ll give you but McCann has regularly played ahead of Mackie and McGuffie and Nesbit ahead of Lawal and Oliver. 

McPake inherited a lot of the Dunfermline team that struggled last year and has only brought in 8 players whereas we’ve brought in 12. I’m sure more of his budget will be tied up in players that were already there too. 

I think there does need to be fairness applied to what McGlynn inherited and how bad we were however he is not the only manager that has his hands partially tied. It can’t be an excuse for continuing to get his game plan wrong against physical opponents. 

Edited November 7, 2022 by Caractacus Potts

[Bairnardo]

I'd have to look, but I don't recall Dunfermline looking bad on paper last season, player wise.

Spectacularly bad management to blame unless a Pars fan is able to say otherwise?

Eta that is to say, I find it hard to believe they have carried the same proportion of unsalvagable muck that they can't get rid of as what we have to thank the c**t Holt for

[HoBNob]

36 minutes ago, Bairnardo said:

I'd have to look, but I don't recall Dunfermline looking bad on paper last season, player wise.

Spectacularly bad management to blame unless a Pars fan is able to say otherwise?

Eta that is to say, I find it hard to believe they have carried the same proportion of unsalvagable muck that they can't get rid of as what we have to thank the c**t Holt for

We didn't renew a single contract of any player from last season, with the ones who you'd think would look good on paper (but were still fucking shite) like Polworth, Lawless, Thomas, Dorrans and Ambrose all departing. 

The only player I really wanted to keep was Donaldson who looked good, would've liked to have seen him not next to Efe Ambrose... 

The likes of Mehmet, Breen, Allan, Todd (as a centre mid) and MacDonald, Wighton, Todorov and Comrie weren't starting but were kept due to having time left on contracts, while Chalmers was starting he was the most reviled of the whole squad. 

If you'd said that those players with a few additions would be unbeaten and six points clear with McPake at the helm I'd have thought you were taking the piss. 

[Guest Back Post Misses]

1 hour ago, Grant228 said:

Why will McPake have a bigger budget? As a club Dunfermline will have had a bigger turnover recently but Falkirk have openly said they're running at a 600k? Deficit. 

Likewise McPake has brought in less players, and as such is dealing with the dross that got us relegated last year. 

If McGlynn wants to spend his budget on the likes of Oliver and Kennedy then it's on him. 

Because we are running at a 400k loss doesn’t mean the football budget is bigger or smaller. I would guarantee our stadium overhead is way bigger than anyone in this league because of the shite deal we are in with the council and we are in the process of rebuilding a shambolic commercial operation. 

 

[Guest Back Post Misses]

1 hour ago, Caractacus Potts said:

That’s if you immediately write off all 60% as players McGlynn wouldn’t have. Pretty sure Morrison would be welcomed in to any team in this league. Hetherington is another I’ll give you but McCann has regularly played ahead of Mackie and McGuffie and Nesbit ahead of Lawal and Oliver. 

McPake inherited a lot of the Dunfermline team that struggled last year and has only brought in 8 players whereas we’ve brought in 12. I’m sure more of his budget will be tied up in players that were already there too. 

I think there does need to be fairness applied to what McGlynn inherited and how bad we were however he is not the only manager that has his hands partially tied. It can’t be an excuse for continuing to get his game plan wrong against physical opponents. 

Saturday showed me that the players we had last season, outside McCann, are probably not good enough when the chips are down. Nesbitt who has been doing well disappeared as did Morrison. All very well showing up against Peterhead and QOS. You need them to step up when it really matters. Both have form for not doing that. 

[Guest Caractacus Potts]

3 minutes ago, Back Post Misses said:

Saturday showed me that the players we had last season, outside McCann, are probably not good enough when the chips are down. Nesbitt who has been doing well disappeared as did Morrison. All very well showing up against Peterhead and QOS. You need them to step up when it really matters. Both have form for not doing that. 

Yeh I think that’s fair but surely McGlynn then carries the blame for continually playing them in these fixtures and leaving some of his own players on the bench? 

[Harry Kinnear]

5 minutes ago, Caractacus Potts said:

Yeh I think that’s fair but surely McGlynn then carries the blame for continually playing them in these fixtures and leaving some of his own players on the bench? 

I agree with this in relation to Lawal, I obviously don’t see them in training but I don’t understand why he isn’t getting more of a chance. For me in big games the likes of Morrison, McGuffie, Nesbitt and now it looks like Kennedy just don’t turn up and we can’t afford that.

[Bairnardo]

I agree with this in relation to Lawal, I obviously don’t see them in training but I don’t understand why he isn’t getting more of a chance. For me in big games the likes of Morrison, McGuffie, Nesbitt and now it looks like Kennedy just don’t turn up and we can’t afford that.

Man, we have done this to death, at least I feel like I have... But he looks the only guy in the squad who will take the ball in a tight spot and manage to make something happen. A thing that Nesbit in theory should be capable of, but he doesn't.

That's what I think Lawal would have brought on Saturday. Someone to try and pick the lock for Burrell from 25 to 30 yards out, rather than from 25 yards inside our half.

[Guest Back Post Misses]

8 minutes ago, Caractacus Potts said:

Yeh I think that’s fair but surely McGlynn then carries the blame for continually playing them in these fixtures and leaving some of his own players on the bench? 

I would love to see Lawal get a run. There has to be something stopping McGlynn playing him however. TBF he plays the role Nesbitt is and Nesbitt has been good up to Saturday in the most part. Maybe now we will see a bit of him. Not holding my breath though

[Bairnardo]

I would love to see Lawal get a run. There has to be something stopping McGlynn playing him however. TBF he plays the role Nesbitt is and Nesbitt has been good up to Saturday in the most part. Maybe now we will see a bit of him. Not holding my breath though

Everyone else in the midfield has been subject to being dropped, with the exception of McGinn for obvious reasons.

Nesbit didn't produce the goods on Saturday. I suspect it might be that Kennedy misses out for McGuffie though.

You are obviously correct, something is stopping them playing Lawal, my suspicion is that it's positional discipline as I have said before, but who knows really.

[Guest Caractacus Potts]

Just now, Back Post Misses said:

I would love to see Lawal get a run. There has to be something stopping McGlynn playing him however. TBF he plays the role Nesbitt is and Nesbitt has been good up to Saturday in the most part. Maybe now we will see a bit of him. Not holding my breath though

Again can’t disagree however it does exemplify the point I’m making in that it’s no surprise that the players you mentioned have failed to turn up once more and get bodied by a more physical team. That means the selection was wrong or some of the players McGlynn brought in are no better. Either way he surely has to carry the blame for that. 

[ShaggerG]

1 hour ago, Bairnardo said:

I'd have to look, but I don't recall Dunfermline looking bad on paper last season, player wise.

Spectacularly bad management to blame unless a Pars fan is able to say otherwise?

Eta that is to say, I find it hard to believe they have carried the same proportion of unsalvagable muck that they can't get rid of as what we have to thank the c**t Holt for

I can't specifically remember who was in their squad but I do remember thinking that they would have a very good season with the players in it. Presumably the fact that they didn't was down to Grant and Hughes?

[Shodwall cat]

Lawal will be on peanuts and is clearly being seen as a project player.  He's raw and possibly mcglynn isn't confidence in him having the positional discipline to start at the moment who knows.  Oliver is a squad player who can play a number of positions.  I'm sure mcglynn feels that he can bring in a lot better players in more varied positions than a good few he has in the squad. McCann has done well but I wouldn't bother about any of the others getting moved on that he was forced to keep. Some have improved a bit but still fall way short of the standards required especially when the chips are down.  

Edited November 7, 2022 by Shodwall cat

[Guest Back Post Misses]

9 minutes ago, Caractacus Potts said:

Again can’t disagree however it does exemplify the point I’m making in that it’s no surprise that the players you mentioned have failed to turn up once more and get bodied by a more physical team. That means the selection was wrong or some of the players McGlynn brought in are no better. Either way he surely has to carry the blame for that. 

From where we were last season I am not going anywhere near being too critical of McGlynn. In most games we have been a great watch. He has improved players and the players he has brought in are a big upgrade. Donaldson, both keepers, Henderson (most of the time) Burrell, McGinn. Happy to see how the next few weeks pan out before travel to their place at New Year. Saturday was a disappointment because we expected muc better. They did a turn on us you have to learn and move on. 

[ShaggerG]

41 minutes ago, Caractacus Potts said:

Yeh I think that’s fair but surely McGlynn then carries the blame for continually playing them in these fixtures and leaving some of his own players on the bench? 

If we're cutting McGlynn some slack then I suppose we could say that he's still getting to suss certain players out in certain situations. They did turn up v Hibs in the LC for example.

[Shodwall cat]

5 minutes ago, ShaggerG said:

If we're cutting McGlynn some slack then I suppose we could say that he's still getting to suss certain players out in certain situations. They did turn up v Hibs in the LC for example.

You might see a rejuvenated effort to ship some of these players out in January.

[Bairnardo]

1 minute ago, Shodwall cat said:

You might see a rejuvenated effort to ship some of these players out in January.

The ones that really need to go are the perma-subs, and I just can't see that happening. Hope to be surprised and we still get to bring in an influential loan or a couple of starters maybe. 

[Shodwall cat]

1 minute ago, Bairnardo said:

The ones that really need to go are the perma-subs, and I just can't see that happening. Hope to be surprised and we still get to bring in an influential loan or a couple of starters maybe. 

Mcguffie , Ross and hetherington can go as far as I'm concerned. Sneddon and Wilson obviously and Williamson who is a complete con artist of a footballer. Probably need a miracle  to get rid of the latter 3 though unfortunately.

[Bairnardo]

3 minutes ago, Shodwall cat said:

Mcguffie , Ross and hetherington can go as far as I'm concerned. Sneddon and Wilson obviously and Williamson who is a complete con artist of a footballer. Probably need a miracle  to get rid of the latter 3 though unfortunately.

All of them yep. And, given that he would probably get picked up, I would trust McGlynn to trade up on Nesbitt too tbh. 

 

I also wouldn't mind Kennedys loan being cut short if possible and roll the dice on someone else. I suspect Rangers might be the only ones to hold a break clause though?

[bairn88]

Can’t remember the timings, but was Mcguffie signed as an Aidan Connolly replacement?